Basket Rivals
by OkitaRin
Summary: Die. Just go die. DIE AND LEAVE ME THE HELL ALONE! Huh? No, i wasn't talking about you, i was talking about the sadist. Anyways, the name's Kagura and i tripped a sadist over in basketball one day. He's had a grudge against me ever since. HIGHSCHOOL FIC. OkiKagu. AU.
1. Hatred

**Disclaimer: I do not own Gintama or its characters.**

**Thanks for choosing this story :)**

**This is a high school fic. This is also an AU and there is going to be A LOT of OOCness with the character personalities and stuff cause I haven't really gotten the hang of their personalities yet.**

**Also, as much as i dislike OCs, i _had_ to put one in or else the plot won't make sense. Also forgive me for the bad grammar. I don't have an editor.**

**Chapter 1: Hatred**

My stomach was a jumbled mess of butterflies as I stood waiting for the match to start. The bright red ball tossed up before my eyes and before I realised it, it was heading my way. Smirking slightly, I had jumped to catch it, my legs springing free from the captivity of gravity- only to be captured once more in a split second.

Dribbling the ball up the court, I swerved to avoid the living obstacles on my course. Someone ran up alongside me, defending the ball from enemy clutches. My heart soared in exhilaration as I played against the team that _he_ was in. I wanted _him_ to see my awesome skills at basketball.

That was, until two defenders of the opposing team broke through my barrier. Skidding to a halt, I threw the ball over to a girl called Urara who attempted a three pointer with a swish of her long red hair.

I held my breath as the ball bounced once on the rim, before missing the hoop. It failed, and the opposing team stole the ball.

Lazily, I jogged down the court, watching my teammate's attempts to recover the ball. By now, I was already panting harshly, my throat feeling like dry desert sand. Only several minutes had passed since the start of the match, yet my body was already begging for a break. Inwardly, I cursed at my body. I knew my energy levels weren't as great as some of the other girls. In fact, every time we had a beep test in PE, I would be one of the first half to drop out.

Wiping the sheen of sweat from my neck, I watched from the back as my assigned teammates still attempted to take the game back, lunging up and down in hopeful attempts to steal the ball. After what seemed like an eternity of passing, one of my team members finally managed to snag the ball back. As it was passed to me, I had somehow managed to elbow someone in the face. It was completely accidental. I swear. Wincing from the impact, the boy stared pointedly from me as if expecting me to suddenly stop and ask if he's okay. Hell no. Instead, I yelled a short sorry over my shoulder before dribbling up the court again, skidding to a halt in front of the goal. With one arm, I threw the ball at the hoop.

Please go in. I thought, knowing that _he_ was watching.

It hit the backboard and rebounded.

Damn.

Meanwhile the opposing team members had caught up to the goal, raising their hands up to catch the rebound. Smiling, I noticed that _he_ was just behind me. Now don't get me wrong. I definitely do not have a crush on this guy. Heck, I don't have crushes. Period. But if I _had_ to choose…that would then be a different matter.

I laughed out loud before my legs lifted off the ground again in hope to counter the height disadvantage with sheer force. My arms reached out to catch the rebound, but only managed to scratch the surface of it with my long, uncut nails, knocking it off course. My heart pumped in elation, yet fell again just as fast when I landed from my jump.

As I landed from my jump, my right foot had landed squarely on _his_ foot. Ouch. I winced in empathy as I put all my weight onto that foot. An indignant cry of pain echoed from behind , I turned to face him.

"Sorry!" I had managed to squeak out. But he didn't hear me. He had already begun his chase after the ball, leaving me standing, stunned for a few split seconds. Shaking my head, I quickly sprinted down the court again, chasing after a boy, whose name I still hasn't learnt. Swiping out my arm, I managed to knock the ball aside from his grasp, rendering it as out.

"Out. White's ball." I heard the PE teacher yell over the chaos.

Panting harshly, I followed the movements of the player I was guarding. Making sure he didn't get the ball. Yet I failed as I underestimated a bounce pass. Luckily, Urara had managed to steal the ball back again through an intercept, instinctively dribbling it up the court, screened by two others. I raised my arm up to catch her attention.

Dribbling to a stop, she peered around before passing it to another one of my teammates, ignoring me completely. The other girl with the ball dribbled down to the goal, aimed and shot, gaining us our first goal.

"Yes!" I huffed happily under my breath, my hands clapping unconsciously.

The whistle sounded. "Okay. Next teams, get ready." Our teacher yelled.

Staggering to the benches, I wiped the sweat off my brow, before slumping down. Almost as if in a trance, my eyes drifted over to the back of a very familiar head before averting it again in a split second as if burnt. Staring at the railings determinedly, I ignored the thoughts running through my mind.

Go talk to him! Make a conversation! The thoughts in my mind said. No, I responded. Not after the embarrassing thing I did today. Come on! I stepped on his foot, and he hasn't even heard my apology yet. Go on, go on, the voices urged me. Hesitantly, my eyes trailed again to the back of his head as if drawn by a magnet.

Shinichi Ao, his name was, year eleven. It was only a couple of seconds later that my brain comprehended that I was staring. With a huff, I tore my eyes back to the wall beside me.

Hey. Don't look at me like that. I'm telling you. I don't like him in that way. I was only being… friendly! Yeah! Friendly. There is no way that I'll ever like him in that way. He's not even that cute. His hair always sticks up, cause it's so short. I think he even has a small bald spot! Personally, I prefer guys with longer hair. But not too long. Somewhere around the neck maybe? Also he has those really thin eyes that make him look Japanese. I don't think he is though. But apart from his looks, he has been really kind to me. Possibly the only person in Silver High who doesn't ignore me like I didn't exist..

But we don't even talk all that much. Sometimes he'll say hi when we meet. Then again, he hasn't talked to me in ages. Seriously, the last time he had willing talked to me was to ask for some food. By the way, he is way too old for me. Seriously… We are a least four years apart! Talk about age gap… But I can't help but to be drawn to him, maybe it's because I always get the feeling that he likes me. I mean, we did talk a lot once…. Nah. Forget it. I don't like him in any way other than friendship.

Speaking of friendship, I think my ship had sunk before I even came to this school. To say I have few friends is an understatement. I only have one. And he doesn't even count cause he is just a pair of glasses. (I thought I heard an indignant 'hey!'). To be blunt, Glasses is not my friend in this school. He is not my best friend. No. He is my _only_ friend. Sad right?

Our PE class dragged on as team after team played each other. I on the other hand, was waiting for my team's turn again. Every week, on Thursday, our class would have PE classes in period four where we would take over the gym and do practicals. Unluckily, one of the year eleven classes also did PE prac at the same time as us, so then the year tens which are us, would versus the year elevens in a sport or game that the teachers choose.

This week happened to be basketball.

I was so happy when I found out that this week would be basketball since I had loved it for a long time now. It's been a hobby even since Gin-chan made me watch it on TV to just to stop me from annoying him. I'm not that great at sports, but I definitely love basketball, enough to practise and practise to raise my stamina and speed. Every time I play, I play to win of course, but I also play because it's fun. It would always manage to put a big smile on my face, enough to make my laugh out loud in the middle of a serious match.

So throughout last year, I've been trying to perfect my dribbles, passing and shooting but I never seemed to get it right. I'm too violent… people say. Even I had to admit that it's true. Every time I play, I would somehow manage to scratch someone, elbow someone's face or manage to hurt people in general. Heck. Sometimes I accidently hurt my own teammates. Though, I have been trying to correct it, but I found out that I simply can't. It's a part of my style, along with my fluke throws and shots. You know what? I actually found it easier to not concentrate and shoot, rather than concentrate and shoot. My luck gets it in most of the time. I just aim and… whoosh it goes in.

The whistle sounded.

Oh. Another game had ended. Looking up, I was startled when Shinichi caught my eye and threw me the bib he was wearing. A smile slowly spread across my face.

"Thanks!" I yelled out breathlessly, as I headed down to the court, determined not to look back behind me. Seeing my team gathered on the court already, I gave a small smile to them which was not returned. Heck. I didn't expect it to be.

I had only transferred to this school last year and am at least two years younger than everyone else in my class. Why? Blame it on Gin-chan, my mentor and somewhat adoptive father. Gin-chan had raised me up ever since he found me out on the streets. He had home-schooled me, seeing how he was a legitimate teacher himself. Apparently he had accelerated me so much that even though I was supposed to be in year nine, I was to do year ten courses. Feh! I bet he just skipped most of the stuff, cause he's so lazy.

I never dreamed of going to school… that was until my mentor sprung a secret on me. _We were going broke._ Secret my ass. Now that I think about it… where did he get all the money to survive the last six years? He didn't work. He didn't get paid… Probably spent all he had every day at pachinko. Oh wells. Anyways, he suddenly needed the money badly so he snagged a current job here in this school. How he got hired, I'd never know.

Yeah, anyways because of me skipping years, noticeably, everyone is taller than me. Even the shortest girl here was taller than me by a good five centimetres. So naturally, I had a major disadvantage at basketball where height is everything. Still I managed to survive. Somehow.

I had no friends in my class. Normally I would be the wanderer that would travel from group to group when it came to group or team tasks. Trust me, the feeling isn't that great. Though I am working on it. The girls on my current team treat me okay… by completely ignoring me. I hope we will become friends in due time. I even think that the red-haired girl, Urara had tossed me a smile once. Maybe.

I sighed half-heartedly as my heart began to speed up. Butterflies crowded my stomach as I nervously began worrying. What if we can't win? What if I miss all the goals? This happens before every match. Standing straight, I eyed the year elevens facing us. I didn't know some of them, but the ones I did know either gave me a soft smile or an evil smile. Scanning the opposing team, my heart sank a little. No way will we be winning. Honestly.

The people stood intimidatingly in a row, some smiling, some smirking. Eying the first girl from the left, I considered their abilities. The first girl stood straight, an eye patch over her left eye. She wasn't that tall… Maybe she was good at passing… My mind diminished the threat. A second girl who looked like Urara stood beside her, fixing her glasses. She kept fiddling with her fingers, looking to her right every now and then. Maybe she could be another passer? Maybe...

A smile spread across my face as my eyes landed on the next person- no, glasses. He smiled lop-sidedly at me as recognition flashed in his eyes. It was Glasse- no _Shinpachi,_ my idiotic next door neighbour who became my bes- no, _only_ friend in school. Speaking of school… he's only two years older than me right? Shouldn't he be in the same year as me? How come he's in year eleven?

Next to him was…oh shit… My brother... You know what? I didn't even know I had a brother until last year when he approached to me (more like stalked me. I still remember the bruise I gave him.). Sadly, I have to say I have the most scariest and idiotic brother in the whole world. My brother tossed me a careless smile.

Clearing my mind, my eyes latched onto the last player. He wasn't too tall, with a sandy-brown mushroom haircut. (I had to stifle a laugh at his hair. Oh my gosh, he had Rock Lee's hair cut!) Red piercing eyes stared lazily into space as the basketball spun neatly on his finger tip.

I think I knew him. Okita Sochirou? Or Okita Sofa? Whatever… I think he was supposed to be pretty popular in the school as the girls in my class would always gossip about him. They always say weird things like… 'I wish he was my boyfriend.' Or ' Those dreamy eyes…'. And I only recognised him from the wallpapers that some of the girls had in class. Personally… he isn't all that cute. Even Shinichi was cuter. I also recognised him because of Gin-chan, cause he was always complaining about some Sochirou or Sofa at home when marking papers. I think I got his name from there.

As the game started, I tensed, knowing that my brother and that Sofa guy were two of the biggest threats on the court. I stared unblinkingly as the ball was tossed. My eyes started to water while my heart thumped wildly in my chest. They watered.

No! I refuse to blink! But my eyes had other options. They prickled. And watered. And… I couldn't help it. I blinked. And blinked again. Within that split second of a blink, the ball had already been taken by the opposing team.

"No!" I exclaimed breathlessly, watching as the ball flew neatly into the sandy haired guy's hands. Dribbling, he ran towards me, aiming to pass me. I felt the adrenaline pump through my veins as I reacted. Instinctively, I chased after him, my arm swiping out randomly in hopes of stealing the ball from him or at least knocking it off course. I chased him until he slowed down as we approached the goal. Me, being the knowledgeable one, knew he was going for a layup. So I did the first thing I can. Block him.

I sped up before running in front of him, my arms flailing a bit while I braced, hoping to keep him from shooting. He didn't stop, instead he sped up. Panting, I realised something. _He was going to crash into me_. He smirked as I hurried to dodge out of the way, hoping to avoid this madman playing basketball. What I didn't expect was him to trip over my foot, his smirk dropping like a brick. My eyes widened as he tripped towards me, his hands, now free of the ball, reached out to brace himself against the impact.

Shit. He was going to crash into me either way. Trusting my reflexes, I narrowly dodged his fall, only to lose my balance as well. I fell towards him, my mouth gaped open in shock. Shit! I didn't want to land on him! Shinichi could be watching. Giving my body in to my reflexes, my right hand shot out to make contact with the floor beside the guy. It was only a split second, before my wrist twisted, diverting the direction of my fall. I breathed a sigh of relief as I collapsed onto his legs instead. Without missing a beat, I regained my balance and stood up, muttering a bunch of sorry's under my breath as the boy squirmed and rolled over on the floor. The ball lay forgotten against the wall.

I watched him roll over dramatically, clutching his elbow which was now noticeably red. I just _had_ to roll my eyes. Geez you didn't get hurt that bad so stop acting like I just punched you in the balls.

An urge to laugh rolled over me but i controlled it. I didn't want anymore people disliking me in the school. But honestly, I didn't know if I should act like I was sorry. Cause I really wasn't. Turning my back to the majority of the people, I laughed out loud before regaining my sanity, pasting an apologetic look onto my face. By the time I had controlled my laughter, a swarm of people had already surrounded the boy.

"Give him some room!" The year eleven PE teacher pushed his way through the crowd of people whom all hovered over the injured boy.

Pasting a fake smile onto my face, I watched as he seemed to _heroically _get up. I couldn't help it. I rolled my eyes again as he limped to his feet. Still with the fake smile pasted on my face, I hurried towards him, hoping to get an apology in edgewise considering the amount of people surrounding him. It was this time that he caught my eye with a vicious glare on his flawless face. (Wait… since when was it flawless?) Any signs of an apology from me died in that instant.

Returning his glare with a harsh glower of my own, I watched as my teammates, MY TEAMMATES surrounded him, worrying and asking if he was okay. Geez. I don't see them worrying about me.

With that glare still present on my face, I saw him turn around once more with that vicious glare. I glared back, not backing down. Finally, after what seemed like minutes, he tore his glare from mine and limped back to the bench where MY TEAMMATES surrounded him, showering him in compliments and sympathetic statements. Ironically, it was HIS teammate that came over to me, asking if I was okay. In that moment, I had briefly thrown a hug to a worried Shinpachi who suffered my brother's wrath after I let go. As the year elevens left, I had briskly walked pass the mob of year ten girls whom were all still babying the Sofa guy. Turning my head, I thought I saw a look of extreme annoyance on his face as if he was trying to escape the girls. Hah! I thought evilly. I hope you suffer!

But as I turned to leave, I thought I heard the girls in my class say something like 'How could she trip him?' or 'I thought she was nice, but I guess not…' or 'Stupid b*tch, tripping you over…'. The last one honestly did stab a hole in my heart. I glared. Thanks a lot jerk. And I thought I could have made some friends in my class.

…

Later that day, I laid on the couch thinking, while Gin-chan occupied the other couch, reading his Jump.

"Gin-chan?"

"What?"

"Gin-chan." I took a deep breath. "Today I learnt what hate is."

"Mmm."

Satisfied with my statement, I was about to go sleep when a sudden realization stung at me.

"Gin-chan?"

"…"

"Gin-chan?"

"…"

" I forgot, but do I need to introduce myself to the readers?"

"…."

"Gin-chan? Why are you ignoring me?" I turned my head to stare at him with an attempted innocent look on my face. He stared at me with annoyance.

"I'm not and stop breaking the fourth wall! I'm trying to read my Jump here."

"Okay. Okay. Fine." I took a deep breath before focusing my attention at the ceiling. "Hi! My name is Kagura. Just Kagura, nothing else. I have cerulean eyes and vermillion orange hair. I am not what you can consider athletic but I do love basketball with all my heart. I am currently in year nine and you are about the witness the biggest part of my life so far where it began when I accidently tripped a sandy-haired idiot over in basketball. This is my story, I only ask you to hear it to the end."

**Thanks for reading!**

**I do not own Rock Lee.**

**This is my first time writing in first person so bear with me. Feel free to criticize and if you are reading, let me know that you're reading by dropping a review? Just one is fine. I just need to know if people are reading this or not. Cause if there aren't all that many people reading then i'll stop writing cause it's really no point writing if people aren't gonna read.**

**Thanks again for reading!**


	2. Hunger

**Disclaimer: I do not own Gintama or it's characters**

**By the way, thanks for the reviews (Kimi Miyamoto Emiri, Cm001, Guest and Guest) at least 4 people are reading and liking this.**

**Chapter 2: Hunger**

I glared.

A young girl glared back at me, a piece of green sukonbu hanging limply from her lips. Her vermillion red hair was tied up in the usual twin knots, clipped over with ornaments. Donning Silver High's school uniform, consisting of a simple white blouse and a dark brown skirt, crisscrossed with lighter brown lines, she glowered at me without blinking.

Still glaring, I tugged my skirt a little lower, my fingers rubbing over the rough fabric. The girl in the mirror repeated my action. I glowered at her and she glowered back, neither of us willing to blink. That until an unearthly noise seemed to gurgle through the room as my stomach contracted. The girl in the mirror finally blinked, her ocean blue eyes narrowing into thin slits as the last of her favourite snack was sucked up into the deep cave of her mouth.

Damn. This wasn't good.

Another unearthly gurgle soon followed the first.

Was I going to die like this? Alone in my room? Starved to death?

I shoved my hands into my pockets, expecting to feel the familiar thin, plastic packaging of sukonbu. There were none. Cursing, I suffered again as my stomach screamed in pain. The realizations tore into my brain like heavy bricks, each dealing more damage than the last.

One, Gin-chan left already. Two, I was hungry. Three, There was no more food in the house. Four, I had run out of sukonbu.

_I had run out of sukonbu._

I snapped, willing my brain to shut down on me as I lost my sanity and ran to my window before throwing it open with a harsh thud. I felt my scream tear at my throat as I wailed to the blue, blue sky. Why is it so blue? "I'M HUNGRYYYYYYY GIMME SOME FOOD!"

I could have sworn that I heard someone fall out of bed somewhere. Don't ask me how. I just know.

Regaining what was lost of my sanity, I slumped over the window, half my body hanging outside my room. I ignored the blood rushing to my head as the ground seemed to blink at me from far away. My hair scraped against the brick wall outside, a small cobweb dangling near my face.

Gin-chan and I lived in an apartment on the second floor. It was simple, consisting only of a main bedroom, a toilet, a bathroom, a kitchen, some space to eat and a spare storage room. Obviously, Gin-chan occupied the main room, which left me with the spare storage room. It was a really small, with only enough space for a single bed, a side desk and some drawers. But despite what Glasses said about it, I really do like it and I wouldn't ask for more nif it was offered. It was perfect. If I needed a desk I would just use the kotatsu that we had, or do my work on my bed.

Sighing deeply, I raised my head tiredly to observe my neighbour's house, wondering if Shinpachi had woken up yet.. Yeah, we were next door neighbours and coincidentally, his room was practically next to mine, only divided by a dark alleyway. His window and my window were aligned, something that I found to be quite convenient when I wanted to chat or rant. Like right now. I sighed again drawing my eyes away from his green curtains that were still drawn.

Should I go steal Gin-chan's secret stash of money and go pig out? It was definitely a good idea. But school was gonna start soon… Or maybe I'll steal his other secret stash? The stash of sweets?

Flumping my entire body weight over the window sill, I face-planted into the brick wall. But I didn't care about the pain on my face. All I cared about was the urgent growling of my stomach which was more important than any sort of pain.

A cold wind blew through the alley, ruffling my hair. Stupid Gin-chan, I thought, relaxing my muscles, allowing myself to hang limply over the window sill like a sheet hung out to dry. Maybe I'll die here. Then Gin-chan would start feeling guilty for leaving me with no food in the house. Then I would go up to heaven where there would be an unlimited supply of food on silver platters. Like mountains of piled sukonbu, or a fountain of pure honey. I ignored the soft thuds of opening windows and the drawing of curtains as I willed myself into a world of food, a trickle of drool running up my mouth due to my gravity. Remember, I was practically upside down.

"Kagura-chan!" A worried voice jolted me from my fantasies of food. "Are you alright?"

My heart lifted as I tilted myself upright in a matter of second, a large smile present on my face. Immediately, I felt the excess blood drain away from my face while stars flickered in my vision. I ignored it and instead focused on the plain teenager in front of me. "Pachi-boy!" I whined.

"Eh. Kagura-chan, you have drool on your nose."

"I don't care!" I said hurriedly before wiping it off with my sleeve. "I'm hungryyyyy."

"Then go eat something." He smiled. Shinpachi, like myself was already in school uniform. He wore a white shirt, the boy's equivalent of the blouse and a dark brown jumper. His hair was still that plain cut while his plain glasses glinted in the morning light.

"Stupid Gin-chan didn't leave me with anything to eat." I whined some more. "He left me some note saying there was no food left in the fridge and then threatened me saying I better not eat his stash of sweets." I cursed Gin-chan inwardly. "Pachi-boy, come over and help me search for his stash!" I yelled to him. "I'm starving to death here!"

My stomach growled in agreement.

"We don't have time. School starts in an hour." He yelled back. "Unless you want to try my sister's cooking," He froze midway in thought. "we can always go to that breakfast buffet just around the corner from school. My treat."

"The one that Gin-chan always takes us to?"

"Yeah, it's pretty cheap."

"Really?" My eyes positively glowed from the mention of food. "Meetcha down in a few minutes then!"

He nodded and disappeared to the back of his room, presumably to get ready.

Skipping excitedly across the room with renewed energy, I chucked some books and papers into my brown school bag, before swinging the entire thing over my shoulder. Raking my eyes through my room once more, my eyes landed on the photo frame standing proudly over my desk. It was a group picture of Gin-chan, staring at the camera with a smile, his elbow using my head as an armrest; me, laughing and holding out Shinpachi's glasses at the camera; Pachi-boy, trying to recover his glasses with a huge smile while his older sister, Tae Shimura just smiled warmly at the camera, her arm holding onto Shinpachi's free arm.

A smile spread to my face as I remembered the day we had taken the photo. It wasn't easy to forget. After all, it wasn't every day that a passer-by who offered to take the picture would run away with the camera right after. It wasn't even an expensive camera. Well, we chased him down and I had given him my flying kick with the umbrella where I just _might_ have hit him in a crucial area. Hopefully he could still have children…

I winced as my stomach gave out another displeasured growl, telling me quite rudely to hurry up. As I hopped out my bedroom door, I quickly swiped my long purple umbrella that was leaning against it before rushing out, slamming my door behind.

Just wait for me, my precious rice. I'm on my way to devour you!

* * *

Walking with an extra spring in my step, I turned my head over to Glasses, who for some reason seemed different compared to this morning. I didn't even notice it until after the buffet since my mind was only focused on food at that time. Glasses… didn't look like Glasses. He looked… incomplete… like a huge part of him was missing. I squinted. Did he get a haircut? No… It's still as plain… Did he get braces? Nah he probably had perfect teeth. Still staring, I narrowed my eyes. Just what was wrong with him…?

Glasses seemed to notice my gaze as he turned his head to face mine. "What's wrong Kagura-chan?" He asked, smiling. I felt horrible as he smiled at me. I couldn't even tell what was different with him. I'm a horrible friend aren't I? I lifted my free hand to scratch my head while my other hand adjusted my umbrella to a better position in order to hide my sensitive skin from the sun.

"Nothing." I dismissed it. He was probably so plain that I didn't realise he was plainer than usual. A smile settled on my lips as I came to that conclusion before letting out a tiny, satisfied burp, my stomach feeling better than ever before. The buffet was really nice too. Too bad they didn't have enough rice… "Ahhh… Thanks for the meal. I think I'm full now." Patting my stomach, I turned to Glasses whose mouth dropped open, his eyes staring accusingly at me like I had just committed some serious sin.

"Think? You _think_ you are full?" He gazed incredulously at me. "YOU PRACTICALLY ATE THE BUFFET OUT OF THEIR RICE!" If his eyes could pop out, they would have popped out already.

I smirked at this. "Calm down, Glasses. It's not like you haven't seen me eat before." Swiping my gaze around us, I noticed the people around us staring, probably wondering if this was some comedy skit.

"AND STOP CALLING ME GLASSES. I'M WEARING CONTACTS TODAY!" He screeched before pointing to his eyes, where I noticed for the first time that his usual glasses were missing. "SEE? SEE?" He continued to point at his eyes frantically, almost to the point of poking his eyes out.

Oh. I froze before blinking as the obvious washed over me. My mouth reacted faster than my brain. "OH NO GLASSES!" I yelled instantly, attracting other stares. I didn't care. Really. "YOU LEFT SHINPACHI BEHIND! NO WONDER YOU LOOKED PLAINER THAN USUAL!" Taking a breath, I looked back at my friend, whose face looked like he had just swallowed something sour.

Heh. Three. Two. One.

He exploded. "WHY? WHY IS MY GLASSES CALLED SHINPACHI? WHY HAVE I BECOME GLASSES? AND WHY DOES IT SEEM LIKE I TRADED SPOTS WITH MY GLASSES? AND WHY AM I QUOTED 'PLAINER THAN USUAL?'"

I waited for him to finish his self-pitying monologue before running my eyes critically over his plain features. He really did look plainer without them. "You should wear your glasses." I said. "You won't look as plain cause frankly; you look plainer than your plainest appearance in history."

"HOW THE HELL DOES THAT MAKE SENSE?" He screeched angrily at me before rummaging through his large school bag. He turned around as we walked, cutting off my view of him.

My legs twitched from curiosity. What was he doing? A minute later, he turned around again, this time a pair of plain glasses residing in their natural place. I smiled. "Good!" I exclaimed. "Shinpachi's officially back!"

The said Shinpachi only continued to wallow in self-pity as the school gates of Silver High snuck into view. There was something strange though. Normally, at this hour, there would be a people jam of students rushing to class.

"Hey, Pachi-boy? What's the time?"

There was not a single student in sight.

"Ten minutes before school starts." He glanced sceptically at the gates, where usually by now would be packed with students rushing to school. "There's no one here…"

"It's not a Sunday is it?" I asked, remembering the last time I accidently went to school on a weekend. Horrible. All Shinpachi's fault.

"No," He replied. "It's definitely a Monday."

The gates loomed as we strolled in, a cold wind blowing at us. From the gates, the school office was easily visible. "Look." I pointed. "Even the office lights are turned off." I frowned as I tried to figure out this mystery. There were no one at school, not even the office people... Then again the office had always slacked off from time to time… Just what was going on…?

"A holiday we didn't know about?"

I shook my head. "Check your school diary." I suggested.

Leaning against the gate, I watched idly as Shinpachi rummaged through his bag, pausing slightly with a frown before flinging out a rather battered looking diary. As I observed, his eyes widened a fraction before he looked up at me with dread.

Pasting a nonchalant look onto my face, I closed my eyes in anticipation. Was it a holiday? Was something supposed to happen today? "Hurry up already."

But it wasn't Shinpachi's voice that answered. "We have a swimming carnival today, my dear sister." Instead it was a cheery voice. An extremely cheerful tone.

My eyes widened in surprise as I recognised the tone and voice. "Kamui." I hissed once, before locating the origin of his voice. Glaring pointedly, I saw him walk casually towards us, his vermilion red braid hanging a bit over his shoulders, his eternal smile pasted onto his face. His umbrella was up, much like mine, shielding his pale features from the sun. "Did you stalk me here, my _dear_ brother?" Note the emphasis I put on 'dear'.

"Ah, not this time, my dear sister." Kamui smiled, his eyes trained on me, completely bypassing Shinpachi, who I noticed stood awkwardly in the middle of us. I sighed before smiling inwardly. Poor Shinpachi, so plain that he couldn't get noticed… that was until he started screeching, catching my brother's attention .

"You just admitted that you stalk her, didn't you? DIDN'T YOU? You didn't even deny it!"

"Oh. Hello." Kamui glanced at my friend as if he had just noticed him there. "I didn't notice you there." His ever-smiling face smiled down on Pachi-boy, a noticeable aura of evil surrounding him. "What are you doing with my sister? Aren't you a little old for her?" He paused before a brighter smile consumed his face. "I'll kill ya for that!"

Heh. I watched as Shinpachi cowered under my brother's smile, which contradicted majorly to the aura he was currently releasing. Man… I have one scary older brother: the only brother in the universe who smiles while threatening someone that he'll kill them.

"She's my friend!" I heard Shinpachi argue back.

Heh. Same old Kamui. It only took less than a year to understand and learn all his different smiles. I used to hate him for abandoning me when i was younger, then I found out that he had a good reason. Right now, I like him, maybe the like was even bordering on the line of brotherly love. You see, Kamui and I used to be a normal family six years ago, maybe more. My father disappeared one day. My mother fell ill, then my brother disappeared right after she died. I was left alone and was eventually taken in by the good-for nothing perm head. It was only last year when I began attending this school, that we recognised each other. After all, who else had bright vermillion red hair like us?

Like the crazy, sister-complex he is, I often found him stalking me, in a way protecting me and pretty much killing off all my bullies. I think it was to make up for all the lost years. Ha. I remember a group of girls that tried to bully me last year. I remember clearly that I gave them all either a black eye or a bruised jaw, just to warn them to keep away. They came to school the next day with additional injuries that I knew nothing about. Maybe a few suspicions. My brother had no mercy for girls. Drawing back into reality, I realised that my brother and Pachi-boy were still arguing, my friend losing his temper and my brother responding back in a serene calmness as if they were doing nothing more than discussing the weather.

"IT'S CALLED HAVING A MAJOR SISTER-COMPLEX!"

"No. I prefer to think it as being an overprotective older brother that looks out for his adorable little sister. "

"THAT'S BASICALLY THE SAME THING!"

I scowled at their argument. While they were here arguing, I was probably getting another 'late' added to my record. "Enough!" Tightening the hold on my umbrella, I closed it before smacking it on both heads consecutively and turning to my _dear_ brother. Again, note the emphasis on the word 'dear'.

"Kamui. What are you doing here if the rest of the school is at the swimming carnival?" I asked.

"I was sent to fetch a slacking individual who was most probably slacking off in this school." He smiled. "The question is what are _you_ doing here? Did you two really forget that the swimming carnival was today?"

Slowly I nodded my head hesitantly in a slight embarassment. "No one told me." Shinpachi copied my motion.

"Your guardian is a teacher at this school, is he not? Shouldn't he have told you?"

I shook my head.

"Then I'm sure I'll have a meeting with your guardian someday very soon in the future." An evil aura seeped from him.

I gulped inwardly. Darn, I just signed Gin-chan's death certificate. I might as go start writing his will for him.

Kamui smiled before he turned away, his hand held back in a wave. "Well, I'd best be going, Kagura and… erm…._Kagura's_ _friend_."

"I'M IN YOUR CLASS DAMNNIT! AT LEAST SAY MY NAME!"

Ignoring Shinpachi's outburst, my lips moved without my permission. What was that saying again? 'Look before you leap'? Well now it's 'think before you talk'. "I wanna come too."

"Hmm?" His antennae of hair twitched, like a dog's wagging tail as he turned around again with that smile that seemed immortalised in stone. "Of course you can, my dear sister!"

"And stop with the 'dear sister' nonsense." I glared as I tried to regain what was left of my dignity and pride. "Come on Pachi-boy." I tugged at his arm, ignoring his hesitance as my brother smiled at him with the intent of a cold-blooded murderer.

Following Kamui, we trailed through the courtyards, stepped nosily through the corridors and forced open locked doors. I had to admit, it was pretty fun exploring the school. I even went to places that I've never been to before. It was only half an hour later that I noticed that I didn't even have a clue of who we were looking for.

"I've got a question." I blurted out as I took the lead, leaving Shinpachi and my brother to walk behind me. "Who are we looking for?" I glanced half-heartedly at the lockers on our left side as our footsteps echoed on the concrete floor.

"A person who was sent back to school in order to retrieve some equipment. He didn't return so I was sent here to find him."

I grew impatient as I turned around while we were walking after a while of inspecting the free space in front of me, so that I was now walking backwards. A successful fluke attempt at being cool if I do say so myself. "Name?" I questioned.

"Sougo Okita. A guy from my class that you'll probably not know."

"Sougo… Okita…" I mumbled to myself, still managing to walk backwards without a trace of worry. I trusted my judgement. Sougo Okita… Okita… Where have I heard it before…? Still deep in thought, I panicked as my left foot whacked against something solid lying on the floor, knocking me off balance. Flailing my arms, I felt myself fall backwards in slow motion, my eyes wide from shock. I vaguely registered both my brother and Shinpachi reaching out towards me with unreadable expressions before I hit the concrete.

The next thing that registered in my mind was pain. Lots of it. From what I can tell, my head must have crashed really badly against the concrete floor. Lying still, I waited for the pain to pass before attempting to my feet. I groaned as my hand instinctively reached for my forehead. Spots dotted my vision as I stood up, Shinpachi helping me up by the arm.

"Kagura! Are you okay?" Shinpachi's voice penetrated through my consciousness.

I grumbled in response. "Does it look like I'm okay?" I didn't get an answer.

As soon as my vision cleared again, I looked at the ground, searching for the pesky step that tripped me over. I found it. But it wasn't a step. It was a leg. Following that leg, my eyes laid on the body of a teenager, his uniform crumpled slightly as he slept against the wall, hidden from view by the lockers. His sandy-brown hair was like a mop upon his head while a distinctive eye mask shrouded his eyes from view.

Kamui walked up beside me. "Congrats, my dear sister." He whispered. "You have found our person."

I didn't know what to think.

**Feel free to ask questions if you don't understand anything. Also forgive me for any grammatical errors and spelling mistakes. I don't have an editor. Also i'm sorry if the characters are ooc**

**Thanks**


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